


A Free Man

by deerwrites



Category: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Genre: Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Tiny Tiny Bit of Angst, also the teen rating is just bc of kissing and cursing, ari thinking about stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21654334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deerwrites/pseuds/deerwrites
Summary: "I drove Dante back to his house after our lips were sore and it felt like an eternity had gone by.  Except he didn’t get out of my truck once I pulled up to his house. Once I put it in park, his hands were in my hair and he was pulling my mouth to his"This is basically a short piece about Ari dropping Dante off at his house after the end of the book because I cannot get enough of those boys.
Relationships: Aristotle Mendoza/Dante Quintana
Comments: 19
Kudos: 241





	A Free Man

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first Ari and Dante fic, so I hope it's alright. I first read "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" early summer, and after I finished it I felt like I was going through my week in a daze. The book completely changed me, but I'm still not sure how. It's just that powerful of a book. Anyways, I'm in college now and our queer book club chose this book, so I recently finished it for the second time. I decided to write this fic, because sometimes you love something so much you've just gotta make some art. Hope y'all enjoy :)

I drove Dante home after we sat in the bed of my truck for a while, just talking and kissing. It was getting late and I didn’t want his parents to worry. I also didn’t want my parents to think that we were up to something, out there in the desert. Which we were. It’s just weird that my parents knew this whole time. And since they knew, they probably could have guessed what we would be doing, even before I knew what I’d do.

So fucking weird.

Anyways. I drove Dante back to his house after our lips were sore and it felt like an eternity had gone by. Except he didn’t get out of my truck once I pulled up to his house. Once I put it in park, his hands were in my hair and he was pulling my mouth to his. It took me by surprise, even though we had been doing that exact thing just moments ago. But out in the desert, it felt like another world. It was a secret place, a safe place. My place, our place. It felt like a different world, totally separate from my everyday life. But then we were back on that familiar street, across from a house that became so much like my own, and Dante was kissing me like that other world didn’t exist. Like they were one in the same.

I envied him a little then. Even though earlier this evening he said to me that he told his parents he never wanted to kiss another guy again, he was kissing me like that sentence never left his mouth. Like his pride and bravery hadn’t been stripped from him by those bastards that left him that alley. I knew I would get there too, eventually, but it was all so new. Of course I wanted this thing with Dante to be a part of my everyday life, like running with Legs in the mornings and bickering with my mom. Adding “kiss Dante” to my daily rituals didn’t sound like a bad thing at all, especially if he kept doing that thing where he nibbled at my bottom lip.

So, yeah, I wanted it. It would just take some time to get use to, was all. 

Dante pulled away, and I was breathing kinda hard. He had a wicked grin on his face, the cocky fucker. I thought he would go inside, give me a moment to catch my breath and organize my thoughts, but then the next moment his mouth was hot and wet on my neck.

Screw catching my breath. This was better. I tilted my head back and shut my eyes, just letting Dante do what he wanted. How could I do anything else? It felt so good. Dante was good at getting what he wanted from me. Because I wanted it too. I wanted _him_. 

My toes curled as Dante’s warm tongue passed over my skin, and my eyes fluttered open. And then my rapidly beating heart dropped down to my stomach.

“ _Dante_ ,” I said sharply.

“Hmm?” was the response I got. Then I pushed him back a little, and repeated “Dante.”

That got him to pull away. “What’s wrong? Are hickeys a no-go?”

“No, no, uh.” I swallowed hard, my face burning. “Your dad is on the porch.”

Dante turned to see his dad standing with his hands in his pockets, a weak attempt at hiding a smile on his face. Dante raised a hand and waved to him. “You know he’s going to want to talk to you,” he said.

I groaned. “It’ll be so awkward, how about I drive away now? He hasn’t actually said anything to me yet.”

“Why would it be awkward? You always talk to my parents when you drop me off or pick me up.”

“Yeah, but that was before your dad saw you sucking on my neck.” My face got even warmer after I said that. It sounded so dirty.

Dante just smiled that dazzling smile of his, planted a firm kiss on my mouth, and whispered “Come on.”

I groaned again, softer though, so that Mr. Quintana wouldn’t hear. When I got out of my truck, I felt my stomach twist with the same anxiety that plagued me before I confessed to Dante. Well, not exactly as extreme. But still enough to make my feet go cold.

Dante, as usual, was not overthinking it like I was. He grabbed my hand and bounded up the stairs towards his dad, dragging me along behind him. “Hi, dad! Ari was just dropping me off.”

“I see that, Dante. How are you Ari?”

“Fine.” I cringed at my lame response. 

“What did you boys get up to?”

I froze. My breath caught. Dante plunged in.

“Ari kissed me, dad.”

The way he said it made me feel more… grounded. He sounded relieved. And a little breathless.

He sounded like he loved me. 

I was too caught up in staring at this beautiful boy that I almost didn’t notice when Mr. Quintana glanced over at me, his smile no longer in hiding. “Really?”

I nodded, my tongue too tangled up to offer a dignified reply. Dante and his dad both laughed at me, light and happy. My shoulders untensed a little. My jaw unclenched.

“Trust me, dad,” Dante said, “I’ll go into full detail later, but right now I think we’re embarrassing him, and I’d like to still have a boyfriend in the morning.”

They laughed again when my eyes went wide and I blushed all the way down my neck. (Also, _boyfriend_? I really, really liked the sound of that. Dante’s boyfriend. Wow.) 

“I’m kidding, Ari. Mostly, at least.” And he winked at me, the bastard. I felt faint.

“I’ll let you two say goodnight,” Mr. Quintana said as he swung the front door open. “I’m expecting that story when you come in, Dante,” he said teasingly. He smiled at me one more time, and then he closed the door. Dante and I were alone again in the cool night air. The yellow glow from his porchlight shouldn’t have been making him look as pretty as he did, but my heart still stuttered when he looked at me.

“What do you want to bet your parents are listening through the door right now?” I asked.

He laughed hard at that, and I fell a bit further. Dante’s laugh is really something to witness. He throws his head back and his eyes crinkle at the corners when he really gets going.

He draped his arms over my shoulders and my breath caught. “Sorry about them. They really do mean well. You know they’ve probably been rooting for us this whole time, right?”

“Yeah, and I know for sure that my parents were,” I said.

“What do you mean? How do you know?”

“I’ll tell you later.” I was too distracted to be bothered to explain it all right then. He was so close to me. I could see the freckles over his nose. I leaned in and caught his lips with mine.

He breathed in deeply through his nose, and he angled his head to the side and dipped his tongue into my mouth. It made my head spin. That whole evening with Dante had a dizzying effect on me. I loved it. 

Just when I was about to return the favor, he pulled away before I could properly react. The whimper I made was embarrassing. 

He didn’t pull completely away from me, thankfully. His breath was hot and damp on my ear as he leaned in and whispered, “God, I wish I could take you inside. Up to my room. In my bed.” Goosebumps raced up my arms.

The image that my brain provided of Dante pressing me into his bed and kissing me senseless was almost too much for me to handle, so I grabbed his hips and pulled him closer to kiss him for real.

I kissed him slow and deep, making sure to savor the way he tasted and felt. His fingers tugged at my hair, and I finally understood what the phrase “weak in the knees” meant. I could get use to the feeling. I sucked on Dante’s tongue and his grip on my hair tightened in response. And then I remembered that this was only supposed to be a goodnight kiss. 

I pulled away. “Ok, for real this time. You have to go in, Dante. I don’t want both your parents out here. I don’t think I could handle that right now.”

With a harsh sigh, Dante dropped his arms and moved a couple steps away from me, his cheeks flushed. “I could keep kissing you forever, Aristotle Mendoza.”

Damn, how much could one guy blush in one night? Seriously, my skin was constantly burning. “One of us has to show some restraint, Dante.”

“Don’t be an ass, Ari.”

And with those sweet words, he stepped inside. I stood out on his porch for just a moment to collect myself. Not too long to draw his parents out though. 

I drove home in a happy daze. It was weird, feeling so happy all at once. I’d been so sad and so angry for so long. It felt nice to take a break from all of those ugly emotions. I knew it wouldn’t last forever. Sadness didn’t go away just because you could kiss the greatest guy in the universe (although it sure does help). I knew that the feelings would come back sometimes. Maybe in different forms. But the old familiar ones would linger too. This time though, I wouldn’t be fighting them alone. 

The lights in the house were still on when I parked. I thought that the anxious feeling in my stomach would’ve disappeared after the encounter with Mr. Quintana, but it bloomed again. It spread up from my stomach and into my fingers and toes and laid heavy on my tongue. 

I knew that my parents loved me. I didn’t know why I was so afraid to tell them. But I stayed out in my truck for a moment, just breathing and thinking about what I was going to say. And then I went in. 

“Hi,” I said when I found my parents in the living room. It sounded awkward and flat. 

“Hi,” my mom parroted. “Where did you and Dante go after bowling?” She was sitting on the couch and my dad was sitting in the chair across from her. I guessed they were waiting for me like that, so I took my place beside my mom. 

“The desert.”

“What did you talk about?” my father asked. 

“Just some stuff.” 

My mother laughed. “Some stuff? Why do I feel like you’re not telling us the whole truth, Ari?”

I smiled at her. “Because you don’t trust me very much, mom.”

“No, that’s not it. I just know you too well. What happened, _mi hijo_?”

They were looking at me so patiently and kindly. Waiting for me to get my words out how I wanted them. Organize them in my head. The problem was, I didn’t know how I wanted to say it. I knew what I wanted to say, but I didn’t know how I wanted to say it.

So I just said it how it was. 

“I kissed Dante.” There. The words were out of me, and into the air. They knew what I did, and I couldn’t take it back. My body was shaking, even though I wasn’t cold. 

“And how did you feel after you did that?” My mother asked. I don’t know what I thought she would say, but it wasn’t that. I didn’t really have to think about it though. 

“Free.”

My mom smiled at me and combed her fingers through my hair. I swallowed thickly and tried very hard not to cry. 

My father cleared his throat, not too loudly, but enough so that I looked over at him. 

“We’re proud of you, Ari. And we love you so much.”

That was all it took for the tears to finally come out of me. My body shook with sobs, and my mom pulled me closer to her and just held me. I think they knew that I wasn’t crying because I was upset. I was just so relieved to have a heavy burden lifted off of me. A heavy burden that I had been carrying for so long without really knowing what it was, like a random package that showed up on my doorstep. It had been opened, and everyone who I cared about saw it. They still loved me. 

Their love didn’t feel like a burden. Not like how Mrs. Quintana’s felt after the accident when I thought I would disappoint her. Instead, their love felt like strong arms, helping me carry the weight of whatever hurt was left inside me, there to support me if I needed them. It felt odd and a little scary to have that many people care about me. My mother, my father, Mr. and Mrs. Quintana, Dante. I knew it would still be a little difficult to let people in, to let them know how I was feeling, but I wanted it. I was so tired of hiding everything. 

I was a free man.

**Author's Note:**

> P.S. I made some fan art during the summer, after I read the book the first time, so you can hopefully find that at [this](https://zannadoodles.tumblr.com/post/186175470193/what-do-you-love-ari-what-do-you-really-love) link


End file.
